Cromer will be on Niskayuna ballot

Despite a ruling by Supreme Court Justice Vincent Reilly Jr. to the contrary, Niskayuna Republican Committee Chairman Michael Mansion said candidate Donald Cromer will be on the ballot this fall to run for Niskayuna Town Supervisor.

Mr. Cromer will be on the ticket and the people of Niskayuna will have an opportunity to vote for Mr. Cromer in November, said Mansion.

For a time last week it looked like there might not be a GOP candidate for this year's Niskayuna town supervisor race after ruled on Friday, Aug. 7, that the Niskayuna GOP committee submitted the wrong form to replace their original choice for town supervisor.

According to Mark Blanchfield, the attorney representing Niskayuna Town Supervisor Joe Landry, the Niskayuna GOP Committee endeavored to substitute a new candidate to replace Jeffrey Frankel, who was originally running on the Conservative Party line, with Cromer.

"To substitute a candidate you have to follow certain procedures," said Blanchfield. To fill vacancies on a petition a special committee has to meet and the majority of the committee must decide on a candidate.

"It was very unclear from the paperwork that they submitted that that was what happened," said Blanchfield. "For a valid substitution to occur they have to sign it as members of the Committee to Fill Vacancies and attach an affidavit saying that the committee agreed to this," he said.

According to Blanchfield, a form was submitted that did not effectively substitute a candidate.

"As a consequence legal action was brought because everyone has to abide by the same laws and these guys didn't abide by the law," said Blanchfield.

"At this point there is still is a chance for Cromer to appear on the ballot," said Blanchfield.

There is an Independent Nominating Petition that Cromer can circulate if he would like to, and according to Mansion, he is " just in case. He has until Tuesday, Aug. 18, to collect the required number of signatures he needs and then resubmit it to the Schenectady County Board of Elections.